What Social Skills Training Is

Social skills training is structured, individualized support for the social side of life: reading situations, starting and keeping conversations, navigating friendships and workplace dynamics, repairing misunderstandings, and advocating for yourself when something is not working. For many people with autism or ADHD, these skills were never the automatic download they seemed to be for everyone else, and explicit, respectful teaching genuinely helps.

Never Masking: An Affirming Approach

Traditional social skills programs often taught neurodivergent people to imitate neurotypical behavior: force eye contact, suppress stimming, perform interest. That is masking, it is exhausting, and it is linked to burnout. Social skills training at OC NeuroDx starts from a different premise. Your communication style is valid. The work is about building understanding across styles, expanding your options, and giving you skills you choose to use for your own goals, never a script to hide behind.

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What We Practice

Depending on age and goals, sessions may cover starting and maintaining conversations that feel natural to you, understanding unwritten social rules well enough to decide what to do with them, handling conflict and repair after misunderstandings, friendship skills like initiating plans and keeping connection alive, workplace and school communication, and self-advocacy: naming needs, setting limits, and asking for accommodations without apology.

Who Social Skills Training Helps

Kids and teens who want friendships but keep hitting invisible walls. Adults, including those identified late through an autism evaluation or autism assessment for women, who are re-learning social life without the mask. People with ADHD whose impulsivity or attention differences keep straining relationships. The common thread is wanting connection that works, on your own terms.

Social skills work often pairs with adaptive behavioral therapy for the daily-life skills around it, or with neurodivergent affirming therapy when social struggles are tangled with identity, anxiety, or a history of rejection. Dr. Bell will help sequence the supports sensibly rather than piling them on.

How to Get Started

Request a free 20-minute phone consultation using the form on this page. Dr. Bell will listen to what social life looks like now, what you want it to look like, and whether social skills training is the right fit.